Capel Rugs accents homes with more than 10,000 styles of sturdy skins bearing bold colors, perky patterns, and traditional decorative moxie. Instead of covering living rooms in kelp, customers can browse a collection of rugs priced at less than $150, such as trendy cabana stripes ($34+) or muted charm loop rugs ($149+). Whimsical patterns by Kevin O'Brien blanket naked homes in warm colors while canoodling floors with fibrous droplets of love ($58+). Those with traditional tastes may migrate toward plush collections of area rugs available in a rich range of patterns, such as the decadent Belmont Tabriz, with its classic good looks of luxurious wools and high-tech, stain-resistant synthetics ($60+).

For 40 years, the passionate writers and editors at Living Blues have enlightened subscribers with comprehensive reporting on blues music news, events, and stars, highlighted by interviews with legends including B.B. King, Etta James, and Buddy Guy. Each bimonthly issue teems with thorough profiles of the genre's established acts and shines a spotlight on rising talent. Helpful radio charts compile airplay data from around the globe, and album reviews educate readers on the best blues releases and which CD cases are notorious for biting listeners’ fingers. After flipping through the magazine's pages for a full year, subscribers can make informed votes for Living Blues' annual awards, in which prizes are doled out for album of the year, artist deserving more attention, and guitar chord most likely to make a grown man cry. The first issue of a new subscription should arrive within six to eight weeks.

Germantown Hardware's home-necessity experts work to equip abode owners with the lawn and garden accouterments, hardware, hand tools, and painting supplies for residential projects and regular maintenance. Stay prepared for outdoor projects and solar-power outages with a 100-foot extension cord, designed with durable vinyl casing and solid molded plugs ($31.99), or enforce accuracy and restraining orders with a 25-foot Stanley tape measure ($6.99). Lock-back utility knives fold away for maximum safety and accessibility ($13.99), and gallons of Valspar interior latex paint can be purchased in packs of four ($55.96) to ensure that rooms are fully clothed. In addition to tools and supplies for dressing residential interiors, Germantown Hardware carries housewares, sporting goods, and hobby equipment, such as Sceptor snowboards for surmounting snowy hills in the winter or navigating workshops overtaken by sawdust ($23.99).

True to its name, Dixie Rents and its subsidiary, Party Concepts, rent out all manner of equipment for construction and landscaping projects along with furnishings and play equipment for big fetes. Dixie's arsenal of machinery, including generators, log splitters, and backhoes, teams up with propane-tank refills and airless paint sprayers to tackle home-improvement and construction goals. For party rentals, Party Concepts' expansive inventory suits most any occasion, from wedding décor such as candelabra, skirted tables, and wine fountains to business-conference gear such as podiums and dunk tanks.

During spring at Jones Orchard, families gather to bound through the territory’s rows of fruit, peeling back leaves to get at the ripest morsels hidden deep within the thicket. Since growing their first peaches more than seven decades ago, the Jones family continues to ripen juicy varieties of peaches, strawberries, and other fruit on their 600-acre farm, eschewing long-distance produce shipping for local distribution, mostly available at farmer’s markets and during the orchard’s pick-your-own fruit season. Inviting families to pick fruit together is one of many ways the Jones family lures visitors to their orchard seasonally—come autumn, the farmers transform the fields into a vast corn maze. Visitors not content to wander the idyllic grounds can enjoy the orchard’s bounty at the Country Café, where matriarch Juanita Jones flavors her fresh pies and preserves with fresh-plucked fruits.